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Standing room only crowd at Leslie Bohm memorial

BOULDER, CO (BRAIN) — Hundreds of friends packed a Boulder church on Sunday to remember Catalyst founder Leslie Bohm, who died of cancer August 20.

Trek Bicycle president John Burke was among those who spoke, recalling a long friendship and cooperation on bicycle advocacy issues, including the formation of Bikes Belong.

“We didn’t have a lot in common,” Burke said. “But we shared the belief that the bicycle is a simple solution to some of the major issues of the world today.”

Other speakers shared stories of Bohm’s life and career, extending from mosquito-infested summer camps in his youth to his characteristically optimistic approach to his cancer treatments.

The assembled crowd at the Boulder Seventh-Day Adventist Church applauded after Bohm’s son Griffin spoke. Griffin Bohm acknowledged his father’s famous preparedness, noting that when he was seeking inspiration for his eulogy, he was browsing his father’s files when he came across a folder entitled “Speaking Notes.”

He recalled his father’s love for tinkering on bikes, the time he taught his son how to fix a flat, and his excitement over building a new wheel to replace one that Griffin bent in a mountain bike race.

“He said, ‘there’s something very spiritual about building a wheel,’ Griffin recalled. “And I think for him the bike was some kind of a deity.”

After singing the Bob Dylan song “Forever Young,” the group watched a slideshow of Bohm’s many adventures and his family.

Almost every photo included Bohm’s enormous grin, and many of those gathered couldn't help but grin back.

The slide show concluded with a video of Bohm riding a mountain bike on a slickrock trail and almost crashing on a drop.